Newt's secret press pals

It’s a regular feature of the 2012 GOP presidential debates — that moment when Newt Gingrich takes a deep breath, then proceeds to rip the insipid moderator and the conflict-and scandal-mongering press.

His latest exercise in blistering media criticism proved to be the most successful of all — he won a standing ovation Thursday evening for dressing down CNN’s John King after the moderator opened the latest debate with a question about bombshell allegations made by Gingrich’s ex-wife.

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Both Thursday and in numerous debates before, the former House Speaker’s stance suggested a candidate harboring deep bitterness toward the media, a man appalled by the very sight of notebook-carrying scribes.

The reality is very different.

The same candidate who on Thursday decried “the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media” shows another face to the cadre of reporters who follow his campaign day-to-day. He jokes with them, publicly celebrates their birthdays, teases them about the early hour they are often forced out of bed to cover his events.

It’s not unusual for Gingrich to chat with reporters, off-the-record, in the hotel restaurant at the end of a long day on the campaign trail — and he engages them to a degree that’s unheard of on the other campaigns.

Mitt Romney, for example, doesn’t make small talk with reporters about sports, the news of the day or the food at his events like Gingrich. No one gets close enough.

The contrast between the two couldn’t have been any clearer than Wednesday, when Romney stopped at a BBQ joint to shake hands and approached a family with a basket full of hush puppies. When a Washington Post reporter innocuously asked Romney if he planned to try one, the staff cut him off, insisting it was an off-the-record stop.

When the press tweeted about the incident, angry emails were dispatched from the former Massachusetts governor’s staff to offending reporters.

While Romney won’t take questions outside the safety of controlled press conferences, Gingrich is perfectly comfortable in unscripted situations, content to make small talk while working the public at events.

In New Hampshire, when he visited the world’s longest candy counter in Littleton, Gingrich was asked by a reporter about his favorite candy. He didn’t think twice: gummy bears.